Thursday, November 09, 2006

The "Honey"

Robert Crisp put his crew into a new Stuart and took it out for a spin. He took the tank to the sandy desert and did things like try to lose a track. He also found that the Stuart could make 40mph. I am not sure if they had removed the governor, or what. Most British tanks were governed down to a rather low speed to reduce the chances of mechanical failure, as well as breaking a track. Robert Crisp instructed his driver Whaley to "make a few fast turns", and the Stuart responded without a problem. He finally told Whaley to attempt to "shed on eof these tracks". They found that the tracks always stayed on the tank. When they arrived back at the camp, Whaley dubbed the Stuart: "It's a honey, sir". Robert Crisp says that from then on, the Stuarts were known as honeys. This is based on the account in Robert Crisp's book, Brazen Chariots.

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